The most common question small business owners have about their websites is how to create a site that will rank high on Google searches and where to place their keywords for this purpose. The truth is that Google unfortunately does not rank sites for their keywords.

The good news though is that Google ranks individual pages within sites!

Understanding this golden nugget allows you to create an incredibly powerful page within your site that will serve as your site’s key to high Google rankings, if positioned correctly. It’s called your Cornerstone Content, and here are three simple steps to create the single page for your entire site to thrive on!

When you create a page for your site that defines exactly what people need to know in order to use your site most effectively and do business with you, you create an opportunity for your business to stand out in the digital space above your competitors. Why? Because if this page contains your most relevant information for your clients and gets them excited about your products and how to best use your site, you have created a marketing tool that not only your clients have the chance to share, but that Google will begin to recognize.

Your Cornerstone Content will ideally describe what your business does, why you do it and offer your clients something of value that they can take away and share with everyone they know. It will ideally give them a call to action, while sharing with them your business philosophy.

It will also contain between one and three keywords that will only appear on this page, but that other key pages within your site will then link to. This is the most important piece of your cornerstone content in helping you rank on Google.

2. Add Internal Links For Your Cornerstone Content

Once you have this page created, with your mission statement and your keywords, you’re ready to choose the best pages within your site to link to this page. The way to figure out which pages in your site Google already finds relevant is to do a “site:” search on Google.

Simply type into Google the following format:

site:yourwebsite.com website review

See what specific pages pop up, go into those pages and add a link to your Cornerstone Content page. This will give your visitors the chance to visit your Cornerstone Content page from your most popular Google-ranking pages. In doing so, your Google rankings will steadily begin to rise!

If your site is brand new, and your pages do not rank yet, no worries. Just choose the pages that you know are most relevant for your viewers, including your products and services pages, and link them to your Cornerstone Content page!

3. Promote Your Cornerstone Content!

As we said earlier, you want to create Cornerstone Content that has a call to action for your readers, while giving them an overview of the beauty of working with you. This also allows you to effectively market your Cornerstone Content page to your most ideal clients!

Some effective calls to action are to include a link to an interactive brochure on your Cornerstone Content page that has a special offer included for those who share it. Including such a link will allow you to track which visitors are sharing for you and how many new visits you’re getting to your Cornerstone Content page.

Let’s look at an example of cornerstone content from small business owner Derek Halpern of Social Triggers. Derek created a resource page for his ideal clients that lists many calls to action, several options for them to share his page while sharing information that his company focuses on. This page is linked internally to the homepage of his site, as well as other pages that most likely have the highest ranking in Google searches: http://socialtriggers.com/online-sales/

Whatever special offer you choose, be sure to let your visitors know how much you value and appreciate their time and visit to your site. In doing so, your Cornerstone Content will serve as your site’s most valuable marketing tool.

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